Unique Solutions to Climate Change

Genius Project

Justin Liang

Pre-AP English 1 Period 4

Dr. Gresham

October 28, 2019

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Abstract

The main purpose of this research project is to find new, attractive, and unique solutions

to climate change that will inform the reader of the issues that climate change poses to our planet

and the ways we are attempting to combat it. These new methods will be compiled into a

dedicated section that comes after a separate explanation of the causes and effects of climate

change. These causes and effects will give context to the reader when being introduced to the

proposed solutions, and will help their comprehension of the topic. The new attractive solutions

will be presented afterwards, in order to inform the reader about the current efforts we are

exploring to combat climate change.

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Table of Contents

Cover Page……………………………………………………………………………………...I

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………II

Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………….III

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..4

Literature Review……………………………………………………………………………….4

Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………….10

Findings………………………………………………………………………………………….10

Assessment………………………………………………………………………………………14

Future Research………………………………………………………………………………….14

Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………...15
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Introduction

The topic of this research paper is unique solutions to climate change. I am deeply

passionate about solving climate change, because I genuinely sympathize with those who are in

direct danger of its effects on the world. Already many of my friends and family are affected by

the changes, like my extended family in California suffering from wildfires and droughts and my

friends here in Katy having to worry about flooding similar to what happened during Hurricane

Harvey. The effects of climate change are rampant now and will continue to develop until we

truly have passed the point of no return, in which potentially 150,000 people a year will die to

this cause alone (“Climate Change”). I have observed the efforts we have placed toward

combating climate change, and regrettably we have not seen any major changes in the US, which

is the second worst carbon emitting country despite being one of the most developed countries in

the world (“Each Country’s Share of CO2 Emissions”). Thus, I have begun to research unique

solutions to climate change that can be implemented and displayed as an innovation in science.

Literature Review

My research is primarily from journalist reports on statistics involving climate change.

However, seeing as many sources may be biased, I looked into either using government

sponsored sources like NOAA, or reliable forums and organizations focused on providing

accurate scientific coverage like the Union of Concerned Scientists. If however I used

conventional journalist websites, I made sure to read into the places that they got their

information from in order to affirm their accuracy.

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There are many important ideas and statistics to be expressed in this topic. Thus, the meat of the

introductions and explanations regarding actual solutions to climate change will be located in the

Assessment section.

This topic has many terms that the reader should familiarize themselves with, as well as

general statistics that are of worth to understand. In general, it is good to understand an issue as a

whole before looking at solutions to the problem, so we can better connect the solutions to

specific aspects of the issue. Let us observe the main causes of climate change and why they

exist in the first place.

The main causes of climate change are human based emissions into the atmosphere. We

can prove this because of specific characteristics that carbon emissions from fossil fuels harbor.

Carbon in the atmosphere that comes from fossil fuels contains a special signature called the

ẟ13C (delta thirteen C). The average percentage of this signature in the atmosphere has steadily

gone up from 280ppm (parts per million), passing the generally accepted limit of 400ppm. This

shows that the increase in carbon and other greenhouse gases is from humans and is why global

warming is occurring (“How Do We Know That Humans...”). While water vapor is the most

common greenhouse gas, and also contributes the most to the greenhouse effect, its presence in

the atmosphere is dictated by temperature. This means that the more the average temperature

rises, the more there is water vapor in the air, meaning that the cycle of warming temperatures is

reliant on the other greenhouse gases that are constantly in the air and dictate the overall

temperature (“It's Water Vapor, Not the CO2.”). The specific sources of these greenhouse gases

will be covered in the assessment section, but the direct statistics will be listed here. An

important term to comprehend will be GWP, or Global Warming Potential, which is the amount
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of heat a gas traps in the atmosphere in relation to carbon dioxide. For example, methane traps

around 30 times more heat compared to C02, which means that it has a GWP of 30 compared to

the GWP that C02 has, which is one. A table of the major contributors to global warming are

listed here (“Climate Change Indicators”)(“Overview of Greenhouse Gases”).

100-year
Average
How it's global
Greenhouse lifetime in the
produced warming
gas atmosphere
potential

Emitted primarily through the

C02 is not
burning of fossil fuels (oil,
destroyed, but
natural gas, and coal), solid
rather
waste, trees, and wood products.
transported
Carbon Changes in land use also play a
into different 1
dioxide (82%) role. Deforestation and soil
parts of the
degradation add carbon dioxide
environment,
to the atmosphere, while forest
like the
regrowth takes it out of the
oceans.
atmosphere.
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Emitted during the production

and transport of oil and natural

gas as well as coal. Methane

Methane emissions also result from

12.4 years** 28–36
(10%) livestock and agricultural

practices and from the anaerobic

decay of organic waste in

municipal solid waste landfills.

Emitted during agricultural and

Nitrous oxide
industrial activities, as well as
121 years** 265–298
during combustion of fossil fuels
(6%)
and solid waste.
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A group of gases that contain

fluorine, including

hydrofluorocarbons,

chlorofluorocarbons,

perfluorocarbons, and sulfur

hexafluoride, among other Varies (the

Fluorinated
chemicals. These gases are A few weeks highest is
gases
emitted from a variety of to thousands sulfur

industrial processes and of years hexafluoride

(3%)
commercial and household uses at 23,500

and do not occur naturally.

Sometimes used as substitutes

for ozone-depleting substances

such as chlorofluorocarbons

(CFCs).

As stated before, the effects of these gases increase the overall average temperature of the earth,

which causes the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere to increase and therefore

compounding the effects of the greenhouse effect and creating global warming.
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It is also important to understand the effects of climate change, so we can get a sense of

scale as to how effective the new solutions to global warming will be, as well as the dangers we

currently face.

The effects of climate change are rampant, affecting every aspect of the world. Due to

climate change, not only are the rising global temperatures having a physical effect on people,

like the recent heat wave in Europe killing a record amount (Gramling), but the effects of storms

and droughts also have increased tremendously. Specifically, a projected model showing an

increase of 47-87% increase in category 4 and 5 storms, as well as a 50% increase in record dry

months in the African Sahel, a notoriously dangerous area representing the rapid progression of

climate change (“Hurricanes and Climate Change”)(Goering). Besides looking at the direct

effects, climate change also has concerning long-term impacts on ecosystems that can harm

economies, wildlife, and infrastructure. Algae blooms in the oceans from warming temperatures

causes the water to become toxic and wildlife to die off, destroying food chains and poisoning

wildlife that we consume and rely on to support our economy(“...Harmful Algal Blooms”). A

statistic more personal to us in Houston would be the amount of nuisance flooding, or non lethal

infrastructure damaging floods. This number has increased dramatically as well, and coastal

cities like Galveston are faced with new issues of moving that excess water somewhere else.

The goal of this literature review is to demonstrate how the dangers posed by the

changing climate will affect many aspects of our lives. In order to protect the livelihoods of

people around the world, it is imperative that we take responsibility in our role of being citizens

of this planet and take strides toward combating climate change.

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Methodology

The method I used to gather information on my topic is straightforward. I simply went to

reliable sources like government sponsored agencies such as NOAA and NASA, as well as

generally accepted groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Bulletin of the Atomic

Scientists. I then analyzed the sources of climate change, found from one of these sites, and

branched off to find new solutions to each individual source. Because all of the scientific data

about climate change is very public, The need to contact professionals is unnecessary. Along

with that, asking notable people like our public leaders that have personal stances on climate

change would also be unreliable due to the potential bias that their information carries. Due to

these reasons, I resorted to the basic tried-and-true method of gathering data from public,

government sponsored sources in order to maintain factual accuracy.

Findings (fruits of research)

Innovative and new solutions for each root cause will attract attention from people and

could potentially be more effective than conventional methods. Due to their innovative

perspectives, more people will know about them and are more likely to implement them into

society.

The first major root cause would be carbon dioxide. My personal suggestion would be to

refrain from resorting to legislation to deal with these issues, and instead invest in new

technology that can be implemented without the need for policymakers. While it would be best

to have laws that dictate how we consume, the pace that we create these laws simply does not

match up to the rate that we are approaching the breaking point of climate change. Another

general solution would be to increase understanding about our impact on the climate so
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businesses and normal people can adjust their lifestyles to better help sustain our environment.

This way, change can be made without debating over the effectiveness of policies like a carbon

tax, saving the limited time that we have to rescue our climate. With that, we must explore

specific solutions regarding the greenhouse gases mentioned in the causes of climate change, the

first of which is carbon dioxide.

The main source of carbon emissions is fossil fuel usage and industrial processes like

manufacturing (“Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data”). We already have come up with

many solutions to carbon emissions, like switching to solar energy or transitioning to EVs. These

solutions are already in place in many areas of the world, and have had a substantial impact on

the world. The most common and most cost effective solutions are obviously switching to

renewable resources for energy and conserving overall energy use, targeting the largest source of

carbon emissions. Ways to save electricity and energy usage have been documented for years,

like using less AC and turning the lights off when you are away. As for renewables, solar panels

are at their cheapest and are projected to get much cheaper, decreasing in price around 61% in

the last decade (Fu, et. al).

While we have many documented methods of reducing carbon emissions, new

technologies have been created that have the potential to drastically improve our efforts of

reducing climate change.

One of such technologies is Direct Air Capture. This technology is capable of removing 1

million tons of CO2 annually from the atmosphere using biomass fuel sources for about $100

USD, as quoted by Carbon Engineering; a DAC company currently operating in Calgary,

Canada. Opening just two of these plants is the equivalent of having more than 133,000 acres of

forest, and is a relatively economic option compared to what was proposed before (Ray). It is
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important to note that this is not a magic end-all solution to carbon in the atmosphere. The costs

of DAC eventually build up to be less efficient than reducing energy use and switching to

renewables, and by relying on this technology it is distracting from the main goal of hopefully

reaching an equilibrium of carbon output. While this invention is a huge step towards combating

climate change, it is important that we reduce our carbon emissions and switch to more

sustainable energy sources so we have less of the issue to deal with in the first place.

The second most notable greenhouse gas is methane. Methane comes from many natural

sources. However, the noticeable spike in methane levels in the atmosphere lines up very well

with increases in industrialization and human activity responsible for rising methane levels.

Again, it has been proposed in plans like the Green New Deal to reduce amounts of methane

stemming from agriculture. However, it does not go into specifics on how this will be

accomplished. One potential solution to not only reducing methane emissions but also

questionably ethical agricultural practices is an idea known as “Cultured meat”. The main idea of

cultured meat is to grow meat from stem cells collected from organisms, without having to raise

actual livestock. Apart from being able to remove 18% of all methane emissions, lab grown meat

also is able to produce 74-87 % less greenhouse gases than traditional beef. This concept can

also save countless acres of land and resources, which can be used to plant trees and enable more

efficient use of arable land (Ewing-Chow). With the growing demand for food that aligns with

our exploding population, this solution could be an extremely effective way of both combating

climate change and food shortages around the world.

The other two gases, Nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases, are both extremely tricky to

remove from the atmosphere. While they only make up a fraction of the major greenhouse gases,

their potency, being several thousand times higher than CO2, is worthy of note. The most
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efficient solution when attempting to remove these gases from the atmosphere is simply to

refrain from using appliances or manufacturing procedures that release these gases. Because

Nitrous oxide lasts around 150 years in the atmosphere, and there aren’t any economically

feasible ways to remove NO from the atmosphere, our best bet of reducing emissions is to

abstain from using products like nitrogen based fertilizers that release NO.

The same principle applies to fluorinated gases. Currently, the best way of removing

these from the atmosphere is to simply dispose of them in a safe, environmentally friendly

manner. Disposing of old CFCs that are banned from use in many countries could save up to 17

years worth of the US’s CO2 emissions (Plotkin, Brown). This, paired with general reduction of

AC usage, could greatly help our efforts of halting climate change.

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Assessment

The main goal of this research paper is to provide insight on the potential solutions to

climate change. The effects of global warming are clearly shown, and pose a real threat to

everyone on earth. We addressed the main gases that contribute to this issue, which are CO2,

Methane, Nitrous oxide, and Fluorinated gases. Each one has a new, creative solution that can

effectively combat this issue. The use of DAC can very effectively gather CO2 from the

atmosphere. Culturing meat and agricultural products can provide a much more environmentally

friendly and efficient use of land. Abstaining from using NO2 is a very straightforward way to

approach this issue, and in regards to fluorinated gases, we can employ methods that have been

advised for years in order to reduce the amount being pumped into the atmosphere. These

methods combined, allow us to address the issue of climate change and preserve the environment

we have today so that future generations can experience the same liberties that we do.

Future Research

My goal is to become a climatologist/environmental scientist, as well as an AI developer.

I plan to use the solutions I have discovered in this research project to guide my future work as

an AI developer in discovering better ways to implement these solutions with a more

comprehensive understanding of the underlying data. In compiling these solutions, I have found

starting points in which to implement my future skills. I can incorporate these with AI

development in order to find more detailed approaches to these issues, and combat climate

change.
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Works Cited

“Climate Change and Harmful Algal Blooms.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 9 Mar.

2017, www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/climate-change-and-harmful-algal-blooms.

“Climate Change Indicators: Greenhouse Gases.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 22

Feb. 2017, www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases.

“Climate Change.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 7 Dec. 2010,

www.who.int/heli/risks/climate/climatechange/en/.

“Climate Change: Global Sea Level: NOAA Climate.gov.” Climate Change: Global Sea Level |

NOAA Climate.gov, 19 Sept. 2019, www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-

climate/climate-change-global-sea-level.

“Each Country's Share of CO2 Emissions.” Union of Concerned Scientists,

www.ucsusa.org/resources/each-countrys-share-co2-emissions.

Ewing-Chow, Daphne. “Is Cultured Meat The Answer To The World's Meat Problem?” Forbes,

Forbes Magazine, 20 June 2019,

www.forbes.com/sites/daphneewingchow/2019/06/20/is-cultured-meat-the-answer-to-

the-worlds-meat-problem/#23949d794468.

Fu, Ran, et al. “U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System Cost Benchmark: Q1 2017.” 2017,

doi:10.2172/1395932.
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“Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Sept.

2019, www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data.

Goering, Laurie. “Hike in Record-Dry Months for Africa's Sahel Worries Scientists.” Reuters,

Thomson Reuters, 13 Dec. 2018, www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-africa-

drought/hike-in-record-dry-months-for-africas-sahel-worries-scientists-

idUSKBN1OC1PT.

Gramling, Carolyn. “Is Climate Change Causing Europe's Intense Heat?” Science News, 8 Aug.

2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/climate-change-europe-heat-wave.

“How Do We Know That Humans Are the Major Cause of Global Warming?” Union of

Concerned Scientists, www.ucsusa.org/resources/are-humans-major-cause-global-

warming.

“Hurricanes and Climate Change.” Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 20 Oct. 2019,

www.c2es.org/content/hurricanes-and-climate-change/.

“It's Water Vapor, Not the CO2.” American Chemical Society,

www.acs.org/content/acs/en/climatescience/climatesciencenarratives/its-water-vapor-not-

the-co2.html.

Plotkin, Gabriel Bankier, and Timothy H. Brown. “One Overlooked Way to Fight Climate

Change? Dispose of Old CFCs.” One Cheap Way to Fight Climate Change? Dispose of

Old CFCs., 29 Apr. 2019,

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www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/disposing-old-cfcs-refrigerants-

reduces-climate-change-greenhouse-gases-cheaply/.

Ray, C. Claiborne. “Tree Power.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 Dec. 2012,

www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/science/how-many-pounds-of-carbon-dioxide-does-our-

forest-absorb.html.